See how the core components of the Windows operating system work behind the scenes--guided by a team of internationally renowned internals experts. Fully updated for Windows Server(R) 2008 and Windows Vista(R), this classic guide delivers key architectural insights on system design, debugging, performance, and support--along with hands-on experiments to experience Windows internal behavior firsthand.

Delve inside Windows architecture and internals:

• Understand how the core system and management mechanisms work--from the object manager to services to the registry
• Explore internal system data structures using tools like the kernel debugger
• Grasp the scheduler's priority and CPU placement algorithms
• Go inside the Windows security model to see how it authorizes access to data
• Understand how Windows manages physical and virtual memory
• Tour the Windows networking stack from top to bottom--including APIs, protocol drivers, and network adapter drivers
• Troubleshoot file-system access problems and system boot problems
• Learn how to analyze crashes